Welcome October!

We had our "welcome to October" family party on Friday. It began with decorating!

We then pulled out our box of Halloween costumes to see what would fit. (Fingers crossed!)

Hallelujah! Merritt still wants to be Megatron, Grace still wants to be a princess, and Grant liked the pirate costume...and everything fits! (Minus having to roll up Grant's pant legs.) We are set!

Next came the pumpkin harvest. We went out to the garden and each of the children picked the pumpkin they liked best.
They are all smiles...soon the pumpkins will be too!

Then I made "cheater" donuts (it's just refrigerated biscut dough rolled out a bit and cut with my handy-dandy donut cutter, then fried and glazed - easy and cheap...next year I will try the real thing) and white cheddar popcorn...


And finally we all gathered downstairs for a "spooky" movie, which gave us all a good excuse to munch goodies and cuddle.
Welcome October, you wonderful month, you!

Old School Detection and Cake

The Sunday before our ultrasound, Chad and I had some friends over for dessert. Brother and Sister Green are fantastic people; he's a farmer and the kind of guy who'd do anything for you, she's the sweetest lady you'd ever be lucky enough to meet. They have five grown children and Brother Green has guessed the gender of his grandchildren correctly since he started using what he calls his "test." He gets all excited every chance he has to test out this method and asked if he could do it on me. I was game so I made a cake and we had a wonderful chat and then...the test.

Unfortunately I have no pictures of this most wonderful smelling cake, but I can direct you to one and the recipe. Simply go here, you won't be sorry you did. I made mine into a bundt cake, rather than four little cakes, and so cooked it for 55 minutes. It was received with raves and Brother and Sister Green needed very little coaxing to take some home for FHE treats the next day. One of the ingredients, cardamom, is a bit expensive, but I thought it was really fun to try it out and now I have it on hand for other things.

Now, to the test. Brother Green had me lay on my back and then he pulled out a thick needle on a long string. This was dangled over my stomach where it bounced and wiggled for a bit (enough to make me think that maybe I was incubating an alien or kittens or something) and then started to swing back and forth in a line. "It's a boy!" declared Brother Green with a smile. "I'm six for six, so you'll have to call me and let me know what the ultrasound shows." Then he packed up his tester and left.

After we walked out of the ultrasound and back to the waiting room to sit and wait for the doctor to see us, Chad whipped out his phone and texted Brother Green to let him know he was now seven for seven. He was delighted and I was left wondering...how in the heck does that all work anyhow?

What Is It?

The ultra sound tech asked if we wanted to find out the gender of our baby. We'd discussed the matter and decided that, since we'd never done it before, we'd find out this time around instead of waiting til the end. How strange it is to tell people we are having a boy and yet have no baby to show. I definitely prefer the big reveal after the effort of labor, but knowing we're having a boy beforehand will have it's benefits eventually I'm sure...at least it cuts down on the number of names we need to consider.

Grant's reaction to our news was, "Whatevs." I mean, how excited is a three year old supposed to get about a baby he can't see yet? He'll be excited at the end because he does love babies. Merritt shouted, "YES! Boys rule in our family!" And Grace? Poor Gracie burst into tears. I was devastated by her sorrow. She threw herself into my arms and declared, "I'm boring of boys! I wanted two girls!!" I explained that we would be the two girls in our family and she answered, "Then I want THREE girls!" As she cried, I cried because I couldn't help think of how wonderful my own sisters are and how she would not have the same experiences of friendship and support that I have known in my life. (Chad and I both feel that this baby I'm carrying now will be our last...mostly because if I were to get pregnant again, I'd probably end up in the hospital since my health has been progressively worse each pregnancy.) Grace asked me why I was crying and I told her that I was just sorry she was so sad. Then she exclaimed, "But I love you!" and we hugged again and things got better afterward. Today she still wishes the baby was a girl, but the disappointment is not quite so keen. In my mind, this whole scenario is another vote in favor of waiting til the end to find out a baby's gender. I don't think she'd have cared nearly so much that the baby wasn't a girl if we'd been able to put a warm and wonderful bundle into her arms. Oh well! Maybe the ensuing four months will be helpful in this scenario by allowing time for Grace's emotional adjustment. Regardless of the drama, however, we're very pleased to be adding another boy to our family.

Happenings

The dinosaurs had a meeting in Merritt and Grant's room...
they had secret affairs to discuss. All I heard was "Rar, grrrr, roar, snarl, snuff, growl!"

Grace started dance class this week...
I've never seen a little girl so excited to be a ballerina. She's learning tap as well - the shoes are adorable!

And A Birthday.

We decided at some point to cram September with birthdays. We hadn't even finished Chad's birthday "cake" before I was making more cake for Grant. Yeah, and that cake was hilarious. The frosting seemed the perfect consistency until I spread it on; then it dripped and the 3-layer cake tipped, and the whole thing looked ridiculous. Good thing Grant is only 3 and way more interested in blowing out the candles!Grant was very excited about the whole cake and candle thing, he kept bouncing up and down on the couch in anticipation. With great gusto he blew out each candle one at a time. The last one was proving a bit tricky though. I think he felt like he needed some leverage because...
he put his hand right down on top of the cake and blew that candle out! The poor chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting was already lopside and mashed on one side where I tried to prop it up and now it had a fine hand print. I'm good with that though, cuz it was hilarious!

We had a fine time opening presents. Grant was very excited about every single one (he even carefully examined the clothes) and Merritt and Grace were very excited to assist him in opening them...they were very *ahem* "helpful". Don't mind my big pregnant self in this picture!

He got blocks (oh the towers we have made and wrecked!) and chocolate from Heather. I asked him, "What is this?" referring to the M&M's and Grant answered "This is yummy!" The Dinosaur Train set was a big hit, as was the tiger airplane, the dump truck with MORE M&M's, and finally, the Toy Story Rex.

The thing squawks ridiculously when you squeeze it, which made Grant laugh hysterically.
Which, of course, makes all the noise worth it! Happy Birthday Grant! We love you like crazy!

A Birthday

It was Chad's birthday recently so for a little while we won't be so far apart in age, and it won't look like I'm robbing the cradle as much. We saw something on tv that said the most successful marriages had a five year age gap...with the husband being older. Chad just gave me a big smile and said, "We're in trouble." That made me laugh; he's a wonderful husband and my best friend.

For his birthday Grace drew him a picture, Merritt made him a book about "Dogzilla", and Grant made sure Dad got some candy.
I pre-ordered him a copy of the new President Monson biography, picked up "24" Season 2 at Costco, and found a beautiful picture of the Bountiful Temple. Turns out he almost bought me the same one for Christmas (only there was a problem with the one he wanted to buy)...great minds think alike!

(I know he looks really thrilled...he just hates having his picture taken! "You've stolen my soul!")

Finally, we (meaning Chad and the kids) finished off the evening with ice cream "cake" (I use that term loosely as there was no cake involved). There was an Oreo cookie layer, a mint chocolate chip ice cream layer, a chocolate ice cream layer, then fresh whipped cream and shaved Andes mints.
It looked really yummy and everyone said it was delicious. Merritt said he wanted it for his birthday cake "when he turns 9" so I'll have a slice next year. Good thing I love you baby 4!

A Rant

Have you ever tried not to eat something that everyone around you eats and doesn't think twice about? It can be difficult at times, but not for nothing (double negative) has God granted us agency and power to resist temptation. Take that sugar!! I can say no to ice cream and cake and cookies and syrup and cereal and muffins and on and on, but how can I say no when corporate America is sneaking sugar into "healthy" foods? Do you know how much sugar is in that yogurt you ate this morning? 27 freaking grams...at least! That's almost 6 1/2 teaspoons! Would you put 6 1/2 teaspoons of sugar on your morning bowl of Cheerios? (1 gram of sugar there by the way...most excellent.) Think about it! I bought a bag of dried tart cherries at Costco and was so happy to have found a healthy snack until I read the label the next day (I couldn't figure out why I felt so yucky...I'm careful about what I eat). The ingredients list is as follows: cherries, sugar, sunflower oil. What!? Why does there need to be sugar on my TART cherries?! The only stupid ingredient that should be on that list is CHERRIES! Seriously! The next time you are in the store, pull down a box of something labeled to be healthy or to aid in dieting or whatever...sure it may have only 1 gram of fat but the sugar content will bowl you over. It makes me feel crazy!